Silva contends it is time for new philosophies, more innovation

Sunday

Oct 14, 2012 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Sharon Simas recalls numerous doubters a few years back when Anthony Silva first broached the idea of an event dubbed the Delta Riverboat Revue, an evening of fine dining, live entertainment and a raffle to raise funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stockton.

Roger Phillips

Anthony Silva:

STOCKTON - Sharon Simas recalls numerous doubters a few years back when Anthony Silva first broached the idea of an event dubbed the Delta Riverboat Revue, an evening of fine dining, live entertainment and a raffle to raise funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stockton.

Few believed a pricey, floating fundraiser could succeed, says Simas, a longtime member of the club's board.

But Silva, the club's president, would not be deterred and Simas says the Revue became an annual hit that raised $100,000 in its best year. Simas told the story recently to provide an example of the "outside the box" thinking she says would make Silva a successful mayor if he beats incumbent Ann Johnston on Nov. 6.

"People need to know Anthony is not afraid to think of things differently and explore opportunities that are different," Simas said.

If there is an overarching theme to Silva's campaign, it is that as Stockton tries to conquer bankruptcy, crime and unemployment, it needs a younger, more innovative and more daring mayor than Johnston, 70. Though the 38-year-old Silva's controversial past is marked by allegations of inappropriate behavior and speculation that he changes his address to run for office, he believes Stockton needs someone who is a bit of a riverboat gambler.

"Right now, conditions in the city are pretty grim," Silva told supporters from Teamsters Local 439 earlier this month. "My message to you is, 'Do you want four more years of the same thing? Can you afford four more years of the same thing?' "

Silva has held elected office once before, one term on the Stockton Unified school board representing the district's southeast area from 2004-08. Silva was board president two of those years.

Asked about his time on the board, Silva said he believes he did a "decent job," touting the district's reconfiguration of its K-6 and middle-school campuses into K-8 schools, the passage of two school construction bonds and the improved training of campus safety staff.

But Silva also favored hiring two controversial superintendents, Jack McLaughlin and Tony Amato, whose stormy reigns began on 4-3 votes and lasted a combined 38 months, and most notoriously he was in the thick of the 2007 Franklin High School football scandal involving ineligible players from American Samoa. The scandal shamed Stockton Unified nationally and led to harsh sanctions against Franklin football.

The Franklin scandal was not Silva's only brush with controversy. His last decade has been marked by allegations of inappropriate behavior leveled by him and against him, and there are two accusations that he threatened to use political ties to gain the edge in disputes.

The first such accusation involved a battle for custody of his son, now 8. The child's mother, once Silva's girlfriend, alleged in a 2010 court document that Silva had warned her he knew "judges and law enforcers" who would award him custody. Silva says now he does not recall threatening to use his clout but added, "Sometimes people say things they don't necessarily mean." Today, the couple shares custody.

A second, verifiable flexing of muscle occurred in 2009 in a testy exchange of emails between Silva and a Stockton Unified employee working in one of the district's afterschool programs. Silva wrote to the employee that he had a "profound relationship" with Stockton Unified leaders and added, "I'm sure they would be interested in hearing along with your principal the manor (sic) in which you conduct yourself." Silva now says he regrets writing that email.

As for allegations of inappropriate behavior, Silva has been the accuser and the accused.

In 2002, Silva resigned from a job as Escalon's recreation director. Later, court documents reveal, he filed a wrongful termination lawsuit claiming he was let go because he was about to reveal sexual misbehavior by an Escalon city official. Today, Silva says only that the situation was "remedied."

Silva also has been the target of allegations. One former employee, speaking on the promise of anonymity, said she stopped wearing two-piece bathing suits after he untied her bikini top while she was working in the presence of children. The same woman also alleged Silva once spiked her drink with vodka when she was underage. A second young woman and former employee, also speaking anonymously, said Silva was "flirty" and she told of underage drinking at parties Silva organized. A third former employee spoke of invitations from Silva to drink before she was of age.

Silva denied the allegations, calling them an occupational hazard for any man who employs and works with teens.

"The No. 1 way to come and destroy me or hurt me is the sexual type of charges, those types of things," Silva said. "When you're in the public eye and you're single, people are going to take those shots at you."

Jessica Lemus, a 22-year-old former employee, supports Silva and does not believe the allegations. "The whole sexual harassment thing, I never witnessed it," she said. "I haven't seen any part of it."

One incident generated a 2005 Stockton Unified police report obtained by The Record. The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges. The police report was based on information from a confidential informant. A woman who is the only victim named in the report wrote admiringly of Silva in a recent exchange of Facebook messages but declined to be interviewed.

Nearly one year after his school-board term ended in 2008, Silva emailed a cross section of the community. In the email, Silva accused Stockton Unified board member Jose Morales and the Democratic Central Committee of threatening to "destroy" him with a "Sexual Harassment lawsuit of some sort." Morales and a Democratic Central Committee spokesman both denied making the threat.

At the time Silva sent the email, he was embroiled in a fruitless recall effort against Morales, who 10 months earlier had ended Silva's hopes for re-election to the school board by a single vote. Today, Silva says he does not remember sending the 2009 email.

Given all the chatter that seems to follow him, Silva said perhaps he should get married to quell any misperceptions. He added, "I need to do a better job when I'm out in the public of making sure that there's no perception that I'm a player, I'm a playboy or something like that."

Silva said he understands the issues facing so many in Stockton because of his own childhood. He says he never met his father and was raised by a single mother in some of Stockton's "toughest neighborhoods."

Twenty years ago, Silva watched his mother die of bone cancer while at the same time serving as the student trustee on the Lincoln Unified board. Silva earned an associate's degree from San Joaquin Delta College in 2005 and a bachelor's in community studies from Humphreys College in 2007. Swimming has been his sport of choice for most of his life, and he has worked for years to make it more accessible to Stockton's economically disadvantaged children.

"He will do anything to help the kids," said Brenda Jones, who has worked for Silva for seven years.

Aside from his Stockton Unified stint, Silva's political efforts have met with frustration.

In 2008, he lost a primary bid for the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and later failed in his Stockton Unified reelection effort. Next, Silva bought a house in Morada but failed to win election to the Lodi Unified board in 2010.

When Silva decided to run for Stockton mayor, he had to move back into the city. He rented a house near downtown on Park Street, but he didn't feel safe so he moved again, two blocks south, to two adjacent rooms in the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel.

Of Silva's tendency to move into new areas, then seek election, University of the Pacific political science professor Bob Benedetti said, "It's certainly legal to do this. But you do have to ask the question: What community is he invested in?"

A self-described "conservative Republican," Silva said he will crack down on crime if he becomes mayor. If elected, he says he will meet with gang leaders and "challenge" them to end the violence. He said criminals are not scared of Johnston but will be "a little bit fearful" of him. Besides tackling crime, Silva said he will revitalize downtown, reduce the costs for new businesses that come to Stockton and forego the $102,000 mayor's salary until the city's budget is balanced.

"I'm serious about this," Silva said. "I don't come in here saying I know everything, because I don't. But I will try. I will try hard."